What is the difference between abstract and summary?

Answer 1

An abstract is usually a summary provided for a specific purpose in an academic context. For example, at most universities students submitting disseratations have to provide an abstract, too. This has to conform to specific, given criteria. Similarly, when scholars and scientists send papers to learned an/or scientific periodicals they are often required to provide an abstract, again in conformity with specified criteria. An abstract should give an outline of the hypothesis and the conclusion and should indicate the scope of the dissertation or article.

The term summary on the other hand is much looser.

In addition to the ordinary learned periodicals there are also 'abstracting journals' that provide very brief abstracts of articles in learned periodicals. Often the abstracts in these journals must not exceed 250 words.

Answer 2

An abstract is a brief summary of a research article, thesis, review, or conference proceeding, typically around 150-250 words in length, that provides an overview of the study's purpose, methodology, results, and conclusions. A summary, on the other hand, is a condensed version of a larger piece of work, focusing on the main points and key details, often found at the end of a report or book chapter. While an abstract is specific to academic and research papers, a summary can be used in various contexts to provide a concise overview of the main content.